The pandemic put a lot of things in perspective for me, but none was more poignant than the realization that I needed to take better care of myself. In almost all areas, I was overextended and living on fumes. COVID-19 and the resulting quarantine gave me time to realize I needed to be more intentional about self-care, especially spiritual self-care.

Spiritual self-care sounds deep, but all it is is taking care of your spiritual health. When we practice spiritual self-care we are setting ourselves up to live from a place of spiritual rest and power. Spiritual self-care also makes us more sensitive to God’s voice and helps us walk out His purposes for our lives.

5 Simple Spiritual Self-Care Habits

1 | Connect with God every day

The number one way to care for yourself spiritually is to connect with the One who created that spirit. When we spend time with God, praying and studying His Word, we feed our spirits. Spending time with God strengthens our relationship with Him and helps us grow spiritually.

Jesus Himself modeled to us how important breaking away to spend focused time with God is. Even though He was always busy and in high demand, Luke 5:16 says that Jesus regularly withdrew to isolated places to pray and spend time with the Father. Now if Jesus needed to connect with God every day, how much more so do we need to practice this as well?

2 | Take a break from the media

After connecting with God every day, this may just be the most important spiritual self-care habit to adopt. Consuming content on TV, the computer, or our phones is highly addictive because the information and entertainment never run out. If we’re not careful though, our mind and spirit can quickly become overwhelmed and overloaded by the sheer volume of content we’re consuming. Even worse, if we’re frequently consuming content that makes us angry/sad/fearful it takes an even bigger toll on us spiritually.

Give your spirit some much needed rest by making it a habit to regularly disconnect from your phone. Limiting your phone/TV/computer use to just an hour or two each day; cutting off all electronics before bed; and having one day out of the week where you unplug completely are all simple ways to give your spirit a break from all the chatter.

3 | Disconnect from toxic people

Sometimes the greatest enemy to your peace of mind and well-being is another person. If there’s someone in your life that is a never-ending supply of drama, toxicity, and confusion, don’t be afraid to cut them off and walk away! Protecting yourself from messy people is a huge act of self-love and spiritual self-care.

If you know in your heart a certain person (or group of people) is causing your heart to be heavy, your mind to be anxious, and your spirit to be vexed, stop answering the phone and start turning down the invites to hang out, and don’t feel bad about it! It’s OK to prioritize your own well-being over someone else’s feelings.

4 | Connect with other believers

On the reverse side of getting away from the wrong people, getting around the right people is also a powerful way to nurture yourself spiritually. There’s nothing like being around godly people who will speak life over you. Find other believers who will encourage you, motivate you, help hold you accountable, and celebrate you. These are the ones you should invest your time in.

5 | Serve intentionally

Serving is a discipline that really weeds selfishness out of our hearts. When we give our time and skills (for free) with the purpose of helping elevate others, we grow more like Christ. In Matthew 20:28 Jesus told us that He Himself didn’t come to earth to be served but rather to serve. How much more should we follow in His footsteps by serving others?

Whatever skill God has given you, use it to serve those around you. Are you good with babies? Consider volunteering in the nursery in your church’s kid’s church. If you’re naturally friendly, maybe being an usher or greeter at church is for you? And this doesn’t have to be limited to church. If you know a new mom has just had a baby, go over to her home and cook her a meal, or help her with laundry and other chores that she can’t get to right now. Whatever you decide to do, whenever you give selflessly of your time, talent, and resources you weed out selfishness and ungratefulness, and if that isn’t spiritual self-care, I don’t know what is.

I hope these five simple spiritual self-care habits have sparked a desire in you to pay more attention to how you treat yourself. While physically pampering yourself is nice, everything we do flows from inside of us so it’s even more vital that we take care of our inner self. By connecting with God and the right people, while also disconnecting from the wrong people and platforms, we can ensure we always stay spiritually fit and mentally whole.